How to make successful e-shop.

If you want to begin to earn money with your online shop, you should understand that design of your is 55% of your future sales. Design is not only colors and fonts, design is a whole system of presentation information. Follow common rules of online shop to push up sales.

1. Give all information about product

Client must know everything about product. Show him several photos of product from different angles. Write detailed information. Sizes, weight, all dimensions, all technical information etc.

2. Write your contact information in an easy-to-find place on every page of your site

When client is going to trust his credit card information to you he wants to be sure that you are honest seller. Put detailed contact information on every page of your online shop: e-mail, phone number, mailing address. The best places for it is header, the top of your sidebar and in footer.

3. Be brief and easy-to-use

When client decides to buy something he must make an order and check some boxes (shipping, way of payment etc) and fill some forms (name, address, etc). Try to make this process easy. Combine pages with forms and check boxes, use two-column layouts.

4. Navigation must be logical and simple

Verify all your categories and groups. Ask somebody to test it. Is it easy to find some product in your catalog? Correct all illogicality in navigation of your online shop.

5. Pay attention to search engine

When purchaser knows what he wants to buy he uses search. Bad search engine shows a lot of useless information. It is another obstacle for buyer. Make sure you use good and well-made search engine for online shop, which allows to sort results by “most popular”, “price”, “new items”, etc.

6. Include related products

Often customers of your online shop don’t know that they can buy not only chosen item but also something related to it. Give more choice to your customer include related products in product description page.

7. Use smart shopping cart

There are a variety of shopping cart’s design. The best is when customer adds item to shopping cart he stays at the same pages and he doesn’t need to return back each times.

8. Propose several payments services to client

Let customers pay with each major credit card and online payment systems (PayPal, etc). It can enlarge the circle of your clients.

9. Do not use clients accounts

When you ask customer to sign in you put an obstacle. You steal his time and try his patience. You can deter him. Instead of signing in propose to purchaser at the end of ordering process to save their account information to make easier future purchase. In the most of cases clients opt to save information. Because it’s handy.

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1. 4 Rules of Your Financial Online Security
2. 7 Rules of Usability
3. 7 Basic Rules to Be Successful Freelancer

How to write good texts for blogs, social networks and micro-blogging services

Internet has its own rules of verbal contacts. It is insufficient to be a good writer. Texts for Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, your blog must satisfy the requirements of effective web writing. The text for print campaigns is not suitable. If you want to earn money with your blog learn these rules because the most important things in Internet is the copy.

1. Define your objective and do the plan of your text

It is common rule for any texts, but it is very important for web writing. You should have a clear picture of the result. When you have a plan your writing will be clear.

2. Define your audience

It is very important to know who will read your copy. Web writing is easy to target to different groups of people. Remember that the text should be different for Facebook, for Twitter and for your blog. Before writing a new copy or changing old one you must figure out who you are going to speak.

3. Write shortly

Big texts frighten off your potential readers. They haven’t time to read large text. Shorter texts attract more attention.

4. Your text should be scannable

Before reading visitor scans the text. He decides is your text worth for reading. Make your copy easy to scan:

• Write short paragraphs;
• use descriptive headers and sub-headers;
• use bullets lists;
• add images and diagrams;
• highlight key points of the text.

5. Be creative and flexible

Different services have its own constraints of writing. Tweeter for example allows you use only 140 character, Facebook have limited formatting. To create effective copy and compress large information in small text you should work hard and use all your creativity.

Related posts:

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2. 13 Writing Rules You’ll Ever Need
3. 6 Rules of Writing Business Plan

How to write effectively

Nowadays business is 80% is communication with people (colleagues, clients, partners). Most often communication is in written form. There are different forms of business writings: e-mails, letters, presentation, proposals and other documents.

The skill of writing will be gained with the experience. There some rules to make getting experience easier.

1. Write less, say more

Today is a century of information. Everyday we read a lot of texts. We have no time to read big texts. Write short letters. Do not use long phrases. Make your text easy to read.

2. Do not use jargon and smiles

Business has etiquette: jargon and smiles are not allowed. Using jargon you complicate your message. Reader may not understand you.

3. Check your writing

Read your letter. Put it off for an hour (better for a day). And then reread it again. Mistakes and misprints are inadmissible.

4. Be attentive with the names, titles, and genders

Precise name and title of your addressee. Do not make a mistake. Some people feel hurt when writer spell their name wrong.

5. Make templates

In business many things repeat. The same letter to many clients, typical proposal for partners etc. Create templates to save your time. But make each letter unique.

6. Rule of 5W+H

Your message should be logical and clear. When you write something ask yourself 5 W question and one H: Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How? If your writing answers all these questions it is clear message.

7. Don’t give many choices

It is best to not give any choice. If your set a time for reunion give a single time. Generally there are two options. You don’t limit the choice you help to choose. When someone has a lot of choices it leads to decision paralysis.

8. Arouse interest

The effectiveness of your letter is the aroused interest of your addressee. Write about benefits.

9. Write often

If you want write good business writings write more, as often as you can.

Related posts:

1. 14 Rules of Writing Business E-Mails
2. 5 Rules of Effective Web Writing
3. 12 Rules of Business Email Etiquette

How to earn money being freelancer

Are you freelancer? Do you want to enlarge your income? Follow these  proven basic rules.

1. Brand yourself

Make a brand from yourself. Remember  your primary task is to sell yourself to job offer. Use the marketing rules.

2. Manage your time

Find in your schedule time for marketing activity. It may be 1 hour a day, or 1 day a week.

3. Make your customers remember your

Write a letter with a new idea, send an interest link, make a call, etc. When your customer think about you, he can charge you with new work.

4. Meet with job offer every time you have possibilities

Do not keep off any meeting. It proposes good opportunity for finding new task. And remember: meeting is more preferable than online chat.

5. React as fast as possible

If you are freelancer you have an irregular working hours. You can work at night and sleep till midday. Or go out at any time. But you should constantly check your email and react fast in any offer.

6. Make your website

Your website is your business card and your ad. Every client wants to a see all the information about his future employee.

7. Analyze the products of your client

Become an expert in their domain. It helps you to create more effective ideas. And customers will respect you.

Related posts:

1. 9 Rules of Effective Online Shop
2. 22 Rules of Creating Successful Business
3. 10 Rules of Time Management

How to be polite in business email correspondence

In the past people wrote a lot of paper letters. There were code of politeness, mail etiquette. And all people

1. Be short-spoken

Write only important. Do not make a letter longer than it needs to be. Your sentences must be short too (15-20 words).

2. Be attentive

Read attentively the received letter. Answer all the question. And as far as possible pre-empt related questions.

3. Your letter must be 100% grammatical

Use proper spelling, grammar & punctuation. Your letter is your reputation. Letter without mistakes and misprints is easy to read.

4. Make your email personal

It’s not effective use auto-reply. Every letter should be personal addressed and must posses customized content.

5. Make templates

There are always frequently questions. Make templates to save your time.

6. Answer as soon as possible

Do not make customer wait. Remember quality and speed of your services are your reputation.

7. Be attentive with attachements

Attach only important files. Your letter mustn’t be large. And sometimes virus scanner can ban your letter suspecting virus attack.

8. Make your letter easy to read

Write short paragraphs, make blank lines between paragraphs. Do not write in capitals. (ex: BUY OUR PRODUCTS). Capitals are good for title (in some cases) and for a first letter in sentence. When the whole line is written in capitals it difficult to read.

9. Save the message thread

Include the original letter in your reply (use “reply” button instead “new letter”).

10. Reread your letter before sending

When you write an email something can distract you and you can lose your idea (leave the sentence unfinished) or make a misprint. Reread and check your letter.

11. Do not use abbreviations and emoticons

In business correspondence there are no place for slang, abbreviations and emoticons. Leave it to your private emails.

12. Pay attention to the subject

Your subject must be meaningful to the recipient. Try to use the words recipients waits for. Today your letter can be lost in spam.

Related posts:

1. 9 Rules of Business Writing
2. 14 Rules of Writing Business E-Mails
3. 11 BBC Rules for News Writers

How to write business plan

Business is full of rules. Many of them are the experience of years of working thousand companies. These rules allow you skip the common mistakes. To create successful business you need a good business plan.

   1. Write out your basic business concept

Business concept is the heart of your business. Think wisely about it.

2. Be informed

Gather all the data you can on the specifics of your business concept. Explore your rivals.

3. Refine your concept after gathering information

Revise your concept. Search for uniqueness. Focus your business concept.

4. Concentrate on specifics of your business

Use “what, where, why, how” approach to outline the specifics of your business.

5. Put business plan aside for a time

When you work with any documents for a long time it’s difficult for you to be unbiassed. You need a time for rest and after reread your plan.

Related posts:

1. 9 Rules of Business Writing
2. 14 Rules of Writing Business E-Mails
3. 12 Rules of Business Email Etiquette

How to make a  good presentation

The good presentation is the key to success. If you can make people listen to you, you can promote your company and make a good career.

1. Remember: human attention is limited

Each slide must contain a little portion of information. Avoid details, listeners forget them in all cases.

2. Make a good introduction

People will listen to you if they know about you will speak and if they want to get this information. Present the problem you will solve.

3. One slide — one idea

Focus the listeners’ attention on one idea. Don’t distract theirs attention.

4. Repeat important information

Repeating make the memorization easier. Repeat in different form important information in different slides.

5. Make a pause

When you say something important make a pause, let listeners comprehend what you said.

6. Final slide must be conclusive

Write briefly in one slide the most important theses of all presentation. It must be the essential ideas of your presentation, ideas you want people keep in mind.

7. Final slide must be final

Don’t add some others slides into your presentation. Finish with the slide you want people to remember.

8. Be brief

Cut out your presentation. Speak less. Talk only about important things.

9. Use humor

Sometimes good joke helps compel listeners’ attention. But beware, if you are not good in joking is better to keep away from them.

10. Rehearse your speech several times

You must look good before an audience. Do not be lazy. Rehearse your speech 4 or 5 times.

11. Be punctual

Do not go overtime. Respect the time of audience.

Making Presentation Mind Map

Download:
11rmakingpresentation.mmap (31 kb)
11makingpresentstion.pdf (12 kb)

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3. 14 Rules of Writing Business E-Mails

The base of your successful business is your relations with your partners. The most spread form of communication nowadays is e-mail. To build strong and profitable business you should know how to write effective business e-mail.

Businessmen know the value of time and they search in your mail facts and benefits. Respect their time, let them know the point as fast as possible.

1. Be accurate

The information you give must be true and precise. Verify all the information, every character and figure of statistics, diagrams etc. Exaggerated or false information may ruin your partnership.

2. Be brief

Your task is capture attention. Make interest recipient in your company. Choose the most significant and important benefit to the receiver and write it in short paragraph.

3. Be punctual

Exclude bad grammar, misprints and misspellings. Recheck your letter several times.

4. Be understandable

Do not hope that your future partner knows much about your product or service. Say about your offer step-by-step. Help him realize the benefit from your proposal.

5. Be simple

Use the words recipient understand. Use the everyday language.

6. Put yourself in recivier’s place

Imagine monotonous day of your letter’s reader and get him know that you are understand him. “I know you are very busy, so I’ll say only important thing. I’ll get right to the point.”

7. Be honest

The one of most important things in business is reputation. Be careful, do not lie. Be honest and upstanding. Build your partnership on trust.

8. Write a letter, not the ad

Be careful. If your e-mail is like a spam recipient will delete it.

9. Do not hurry

After you finished your e-mail wait a day and reread it. Show it to your colleagues. Be sure that your e-mail is perfect.

10. Make your signature block

This block must contain your full name, title, company, phones, fax, address, website. The businessmen like when you allow them to chose the way to contact with you.

11. Pay attention to the subject

The subject line in e-mail is like the headline in the article. It must attract the attention of reader and make him interested. Say in subject about main benefit you offer.

12. Check all the links

If you write some links to propose more information about your offer be sure that these links are “alive”.

13. Be careful with attach or pics

Think two times before using the attachement or pictures in your first e-mail. Your letter may be like the ad. It’s not very good for business letter.

14. Be different

Try to find your own style. Don’t be like the others. Make them interested in your offer.

Write letters everytime. Train your writing skills.

Writing Business E-mail

Download:

14r_b2b_email.mmap (34 kb)
14r_b2b_email.pdf (15 kb)

Related posts:

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1. It’s better to be first than it is to be better

It’s much easier to get into the mind first than to try to convince someone you have a better product than the one that did get there first.

The first desktop laser printer was introduced by a computer company, Hewlett-Packard. Today the company has 5 percent of the personal computer market and 45 percent of the laser printer market.

Gillette was the first safety razor. Tide was the first laundry detergent.

2. If you can’t be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in

There are many different ways to be first. Dell got into the crowded personal computer field by being the first to sell computers by phone. Today Dell is a $900 million company.

When you launch a new product, the first question to ask yourself is not “How is this new product better than the competition?” but “First what?” In other words, what category is this new product first in?

3. It’s better to be first in the mind than it is to be first in the marketplace

The world’s first personal computer was the MITS Altair 8800.

The law of leadership would suggest that the MITS Altair 8800 (an unfortunate choice of names) ought to be the No. 1 personal computer brand. Unfortunately, the product is no longer with us.

Is something wrong with the law of leadership in chapter 1? No, but the law of the mind modifies it. It’s better to be first in the prospect’s mind than first in the marketplace. Which, if anything, understates the importance of being first in the mind. Being first in the mind is everything in marketing. Being first in the marketplace is important only to the extent that it allows you to get in the mind first.

You want to change something in a computer? Just type over or delete the existing material. You want to change something in a mind? Forget it. Once a mind is made up, it rarely, if ever, changes. The single most wasteful thing you can do in marketing is try to change a mind.

4. Marketing is not a battle of products, it’s a battle of perception

All that exists in the world of marketing are perceptions in the minds of the customer or prospect. The perception is the reality. Everything else is an illusion.

If you told friends in New York you bought a Honda, they might ask you, “What kind of car did you get? a Civic? an Accord? a Prelude?” If you told friends in Tokyo you bought a Honda, they might ask you, “What kind of motorcycle did you buy?” In Japan, Honda got into customers’ minds as a manufacturer of motorcycles, and apparently most people don’t want to buy a car from a motorcycle company.

5. The most powerful concept in marketing is owning a word in the prospect’s mind

A company can become incredibly successful if it can find a way to own a word in the mind of the prospect. Not a complicated word. Not an invented one. The simple words are best, words taken right out of the dictionary.

This is the law of focus. You “burn” your way into the mind by narrowing the focus to a single word or concept. It’s the ultimate marketing sacrifice.

The leader owns the word that stands for the category. For example, IBM owns computer. This is another way of saying that the brand becomes a generic name for the category. “We need an IBM machine.” Is there any doubt that a computer is being requested?

6. Two companies cannot own the same word in the prospect’s mind

When a competitor owns a word or position in the prospect’s mind, it is futile to attempt to own the same word.

Volvo owns safety. Many other automobile companies, including Mercedes-Benz and General Motors, have tried to run marketing campaigns based on safety. Yet no one except Volvo has succeeded in getting into the prospect’s mind with a safety message.

7. The strategy to use depends on which rung you occupy on the ladder

While being first into the prospect’s mind ought to be your primary marketing objective, the battle isn’t lost if you fail in this endeavor. There are strategies to use for No. 2 and No. 3 brands.

All products are not created equal. There’s a hierarchy in the mind that prospects use in making decisions.
For each category, there is a product ladder in the mind. On each rung is a brand name.

What’s the maximum number of rungs on a ladder? There seems to be a rule of seven in the prospect’s mind. Ask someone to name all the brands he or she remembers in a given category. Rarely will anyone name more than seven. And that’s for a high-interest category.

The ladder is a simple, but powerful, analogy that can help you deal with the critical issues in marketing. Before starting any marketing program, ask yourself the following questions: Where are we on the ladder in the prospect’s mind? On the top rung? On the second rung? Or maybe we’re not on the ladder at all.

Then make sure your program deals realistically with your position on the ladder.

8. In the long run, every market becomes a two-horse race

Early on, a new category is a ladder of many rungs. Gradually, the ladder becomes a two-rung affair.

Ex: In photographic film, it’s Kodak and Fuji.

When you take the long view of marketing, you find the battle usually winds up as a titanic struggle between two major players—usually the old reliable brand and the upstart.

Are these results preordained? Of course not. There are other laws of marketing that can also affect the results. Furthermore, your marketing programs can strongly influence your sales, provided they are in tune with the laws of marketing. When you’re a weak No. 3, like Royal Crown, you aren’t going to make much progress by going out and attacking the two strong leaders. What they could have done is carved out a profitable niche for themselves (see Rule № 5).

The customer believes that marketing is a battle of products. It’s this kind of thinking that keeps the two brands on top: “They must be the best, they’re the leaders.”

9. If you’re shooting for second place, your strategy is determined by the leader

In strength there is weakness. Wherever the leader is strong, there is an opportunity for a would-be No. 2 to turn the tables.

You must discover the essence of the leader and then present the prospect with the opposite. (In other words, don’t try to be better, try to be different.)

By positioning yourself against the leader, you take business away from all the other alternatives to No. 1. If old people drink Coke and young people drink Pepsi, there’s nobody left to drink Royal Crown cola.

Yet, too many potential No. 2 brands try to emulate the leader. This usually is an error. You must present yourself as the alternative.

10. Over time, a category will divide and become two or more categories

A category starts off as a single entity. Computers, for example. But over time, the category breaks up into other segments. Mainframes, minicomputers, workstations, personal computers, laptops, notebooks, pen computers.

Each segment is a separate, distinct entity. Each segment has its own reason for existence. And each segment has its own leader, which is rarely the same as the leader of the original category. IBM is the leader in mainframes, DEC in minis, Sun in workstations, and so on.

11. Marketing effects take place over an extended period of time

The long-term effects are often the exact opposite of the short-term effects.

Does a sale increase a company’s business or decrease it? Obviously, in the short term, a sale increases business. But there’s more and more evidence to show that sales decrease business in the long term by educating customers not to buy at “regular” prices.

To maintain volume, retail outlets find they have to run almost continuous sales. It’s not unusual to walk down a retail block and find a dozen stores in a row with “Sale” signs in their windows.

In other words, you keep those coupons rolling out not to increase sales but to keep sales from falling off if you stop. Couponing is a drug. You continue to do it because the withdrawal symptoms are just too painful.
Any sort of couponing, discounts, or sales tends to educate consumers to buy only when they can get a deal. What if a company never started couponing in the first place? In the retail field the big winners are the companies that practice “everyday low prices”— companies like Wal-Mart and K Mart and the rapidly growing warehouse outlets.

12. There’s and irresistible pressure to extend the equity of a brand

One day a company is tightly focused on a single product that is highly profitable. The next day the same company is spread thin over many products and is losing money.

Take IBM. Years ago when IBM was focused on mainframe computers, the company made a ton of money. Today IBM is into everything and barely breaking even. In 1991, for example, IBM’s revenues were $65 billion. Yet the company wound up losing $2.8 billion. That’s almost $8 million a day.

In addition to selling mainframe computers, IBM markets personal computers, pen computers, workstations, midrange computers, software, networks, telephones, you name it. IBM even tried to get into the home computer market with the PCjr.

Along the way, IBM dropped millions on copiers (sold to Kodak), Rolm (sold to Siemens), Satellite Business Systems (shut down), the Prodigy network (limping along), SAA, TopView, OfficeVision, and OS/2.
When you try to be all things to all people, you inevitably wind up in trouble. “I’d rather be strong somewhere,” said one manager, “than weak everywhere.”

Marketing is a battle of perception, not product. In the mind, A-1 is not the brand name, but the steak sauce itself. “Would you pass me the A-1?” asks the diner. Nobody replies: “A-1 what?”

More is less. The more products, the more markets, the more alliances a company makes, the less money it makes. “Full-speed ahead in all directions” seems to be the call from the corporate bridge. When will companies learn that line extension ultimately leads to oblivion?

Less is more. If you want to be successful today, you have to narrow the focus in order to build a position in the prospect’s mind.

For many companies, line extension is the easy way out. Launching a new brand requires not only money, but also an idea or concept. For a new brand to succeed, it ought to be first in a new category (Rule 1). Or the new brand ought to be positioned as an alternative to the leader (Rule 9). Companies that wait until a new market has developed often find these two leadership positions already preempted. So they fall back on the old reliable line extension approach.

The antidote for line extension is corporate courage, a commodity in short supply.

13. You have to give up something in order to get something

If you want to be successful today, you should give something up.

There are three things to sacrifice: product line, target market, and constant change.

First, the product line. Where is it written that the more you have to sell, the more you sell?

The full line is a luxury for a loser. If you want to be successful, you have to reduce your product line, not expand it.

The second sacrifice, target market. Where is it written that you have to appeal to everybody?

Take the cola field. Coca-Cola got into the prospect’s mind first and built a powerful position. In the late fifties, for example, Coke outsold Pepsi more than five to one. What could Pepsi-Cola do to go against Coke’s powerful position?

In the early sixties Pepsi-Cola finally developed a strategy based on the concept of sacrifice. The company sacrificed everything except the teenage market.

Within one generation, Pepsi closed the gap. Today it is only 10 percent behind Coca-Cola in total U.S. cola sales. (In the supermarket, Pepsi-Cola actually outsells Coca-Cola.)

Finally, the third sacrifice: constant change. Where is it written that you have to change your strategy every year at budget review time?

If you try to follow the twists and turns of the market, you are bound to wind up off the road. The best way to maintain a consistent position is not to change it in the first place.

White Castle has never changed its position. A White Castle today not only looks the same as a White Castle did 60 years ago, it also sells the same “frozen sliders” at unbelievably low prices. Would you believe the average White Castle does more than $1 million a year in revenues? (That’s more than Burger King and not too far behind McDonald’s.)

Good things come to those who sacrifice.

14. For every attribute, there is an opposite, effective attribute

In rule 6 we made the point that you can’t own the same word or position that your competitor owns. You must find your own word to own. You must seek out another attribute.

Too often a company attempts to emulate the leader. “They must know what works,” goes the rationale, “so let’s do something similar.” Not good thinking.

It’s much better to search for an opposite attribute that will allow you to play off against the leader. The key word here is opposite—similar won’t do.

Coca-Cola was the original and thus the choice of older people. Pepsi successfully positioned itself as the choice of the younger generation.

15. When you admit a negative, the prospect will give you a positive

It goes against corporate and human nature to admit a problem. For years, the power of positive thinking has been drummed into us. “Think positive” has been the subject of endless books and articles.

So it may come as a surprise to you that one of the most effective ways to get into a prospect’s mind is to first admit a negative and then twist it into a positive.

“Avis is only No. 2 in rent-a-cars.”

“Joy. The most expensive perfume in the world.”

First and foremost, candor is very disarming. Every negative statement you make about yourself is instantly accepted as truth. Positive statements, on the other hand, are looked at as dubious at best. Especially in an advertisement.

You have to prove a positive statement to the prospect’s satisfaction. No proof is needed for a negative statement.

16. In each situation, only one move will produce substantial results

Many marketing people see success as the sum total of a lot of small efforts beautifully executed.

They think they can pick and choose from a number of different strategies and still be successful as long as they put enough effort into the program. If they work for the leader in the category, they fritter away their resources on a number of different programs. They seem to think that the best way to grow is the puppy approach — get into everything.

If they’re not with the leader, they often end up trying to do the same as the leader, but a little better. Trying harder is not the secret of marketing success.

Whether you try hard or try easy, the differences are marginal. Furthermore, the bigger the company, the more the law of averages wipes out any real advantage of a trying-harder approach.

History teaches that the only thing that works in marketing is the single, bold stroke. Furthermore, in any given situation there is only one move that will produce substantial results.

To find that singular idea or concept, marketing managers have to know what’s happening in the marketplace. They have to be down at the front in the mud of the battle. They have to know what’s working and what isn’t. They have to be involved.

It’s hard to find that single move if you’re hanging around headquarters and not involved in the process.

17. Unless you write your competitors’ plans, you can’t predict the future

Implicit in most marketing plans is an assumption about the future. Yet marketing plans based on what will happen in the future are usually wrong.

It’s important to understand what is meant by long term versus short term. Most of corporate America’s problems are not related to short-term marketing thinking. The problem is short-term financial thinking.
While you can’t predict the future, you can get a handle on trends, which is a way to take advantage of change. One example of a trend is America’s growing orientation toward good health. This trend has opened the door for a number of new products, especially healthier foods.

The danger in working with trends is extrapolation. Many companies jump to conclusions about how far a trend will go. If you believed the prognosticators of a few years ago, everyone today is eating broiled fish or mesquite-barbecued chicken. (Hamburger sales are doing just fine, thank you.)

While tracking trends can be a useful tool in dealing with the unpredictable future, market research can be more of a problem than a help. Research does best at measuring the past. New ideas and concepts are almost impossible to measure. No one has a frame of reference. People don’t know what they will do until they face an actual decision.

The classic example is the research conducted before Xerox introduced the plain-paper copier. What came back was the conclusion that no one would pay five cents for a plain-paper copy when they could get a Thermofax copy for a cent and a half.

Xerox ignored the research, and the rest is history.

No one can predict the future with any degree of certainty. Nor should marketing plans try to.

18. Success often leads to arrogance, and arrogance to failure

Ego is the enemy of successful marketing.

Objectivity is what’s needed.

When people become successful, they tend to become less objective. They often substitute their own judgment for what the market wants.

19. Failure is to be expected and accepted

Too many companies try to fix things rather than drop things. “Let’s reorganize to save the situation” is their way of life.

Admitting a mistake and not doing anything about it is bad for your career. A better strategy is to recognize failure early and cut your losses. IBM should have dropped copiers and Xerox should have dropped computers years before they finally recognized their mistakes.

This egoless approach is a major factor in making the Japanese such relentless marketers. It’s not that they don’t make mistakes, but when they do, they admit them, fix them, and just keep coming.

20. The situation is often the opposite of the way it appears in the press

When IBM was successful, the company said very little. Now it throws a lot of press conferences.

When things are going well, a company doesn’t need the hype. When you need the hype, it usually means you’re in trouble.

21. Successful programs are not built on fads, they’re built on trends

A fad is a wave in the ocean, and a trend is the tide. A fad gets a lot of hype, and a trend gets very little.
Like a wave, a fad is very visible, but it goes up and down in a big hurry. Like the tide, a trend is almost invisible, but it’s very powerful over the long term.

A fad is a short-term phenomenon that might be profitable, but a fad doesn’t last long enough to do a company much good. Furthermore, a company often tends to gear up as if a fad were a trend. As a result, the company is often stuck with a lot of staff, expensive manufacturing facilities, and distribution networks.

Here’s the paradox. If you were faced with a rapidly rising business, with all the characteristics of a fad, the best thing you could do would be to dampen the fad. By dampening the fad, you stretch the fad out and it becomes more like a trend.

Forget fads. And when they appear, try to dampen them. One way to maintain a long-term demand for your product is to never totally satisfy the demand.

But the best, most profitable thing to ride in marketing is a long-term trend.

22. Without adequate funding an idea won’t get off the ground

If you have a good idea and you’ve picked up this book with the thought in mind that all you need is a little marketing help, this chapter will throw cold water on that thought.

Even the best idea in the world won’t go very far without the money to get it off the ground. Inventors, entrepreneurs, and assorted idea generators seem to think that all their good ideas need is professional marketing help.

Remember: An idea without money is worthless. Be prepared to give away a lot for the funding.

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